What Do We Do Now?
by Jurassic4Life
Summary: THIS FIC DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR FALLEN KINGDOM! Claire and Owen are faced with the consequences of trying to protect the dinosaurs, and what this now means for the rest of the world.
1. Chapter 1

**THIS FIC DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR FALLEN KINGDOM!**

 **So this is my very first Jurassic fanfic! I'm a little nervous writing this (it's been a while), but I am totally obsessed after seeing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and I thought I would give this a go. I particularly love Claire and Owen and how much they've grown since the first movie.**

Owen didn't think they'd be coming out of this one alive. He did not see any situation that would get them all out of this safely. They were literally sitting ducks on the roof with the Indoraptor stalking them, getting closer and closer. He wished he knew if Claire was ok, he hated to leave her in the state she was in, but right now he had bigger problems. Much bigger.

The indoraptor slowly crept forward, stalking its prey even though they had no where to go. He hoped at least if it reached them, it would attack him first so Maisie might be able to escape.

Suddenly the beast rushed towards them, Maisie screamed, jumping backwards in fright and would've fallen off the roof if Owen hadn't caught her. Just as it was about to reach them, Blue suddenly jumped onto the much larger dinosaur and with their combined weight, the glass roof shattered and they both fell.

Owen looked below and saw the impaled body of the now dead predator, and Blue running off into the distance.

'Are you ok?' He asked Maisie, checking her over for any injuries. The young girl, wide eyed and shaking, took a moment to reply before nodding her head.

'Come on, we've got to go find Claire.'

He grabbed Maisie's hand, and slowly helped her off the roof and back into the mansion. He didn't want to leave Claire alone for too long, not knowing what state she was in.

As they approached the spot where he'd left her, Owen froze. She wasn't where they'd left her.

'Claire?' Owen looked around the room searching, until his eyes fell on a trail of blood, leading out of the room.

'Stay with me.' Owen whispered and took Maisie's hand. Together they followed the blood and where it finally came to a stop. It was no longer a trail of blood, but a pool, and it was all coming from Claire, who lay face down on the floor.

'Claire!' Owen ran towards her, noticing she was now unconscious and quite pale. It looked like she had tried to follow them, but had succumbed to blood loss.

Careful to not cause her any more pain, he rolled her over and checked for a pulse. She still had a consistent beat, but it was much slower and her breathing was shallow. She had made a tourniquet where the indoraptor had sunk its claw into her thigh, but that didn't seem to be where all the blood had come from. She also had a nasty gash on her leg, the same leg that was already injured. Owen didn't know how he could have possibly missed that, except with the adrenaline and rushing off to help Maisie.

'Claire? Claire, can you hear me?' He said, lightly tapping her on the cheeks.

Behind him, he heard Maisie gasp at the sight before them. With the indoraptor now dead, it seemed cruel now to realise they might be too late to save Claire.

'Is she going to be ok?' Maisie asked, her voice sounding small and fearful.

'She's going to be fine.' Owen promised, not having any idea if this was a promise he could keep. He knew Maisie had been through so much in just one day, losing her grandfather, finding out she was a clone and facing off against dinosaurs. And he also knew that he and Claire were the closest people she had right now. She had to be alright.

There was suddenly a noise behind them, startling both of them. Turning around, he spotted Zia and Franklin coming towards them.

'What happened to Claire?' Zia asked.

'She got attacked by the indoraptor.'

'Where is it? It's still here isn't it?' Franklin's eyes widened and looked around, his voice sounding panicked.

'Relax, Franklin. Blue killed it, we're safe.'

'Safe for how long? All the dinosaurs are now out of containment and roaming around looking for food!' Franklin started to sweat.

'What? They escaped?'

Zia looked a bit uncomfortable at Owen's line of questioning. 'Well..long story short, we may have let the dinosaurs out because they were dying from toxic fumes.'

'You what?! Do you have any idea what you've done? What this means? We are now living in a world shared with dinosaurs. People's lives are in danger!'

'Look, we couldn't let them die!' Zia exclaimed, coming closer to him, anger burning in her eyes. 'It's not their fault, it's our fault for thinking we had the right to control nature. They shouldn't have to die for our mistakes. Claire would say the same thing and you know it!'

Upon hearing Claire's name, his focus shifted back to her.

'Look, we'll discuss this later. Right now, we need to get Claire to a hospital.'

'Bad idea man. The hospitals are bound to be busy with all the people that were injured here tonight. Not to mention anyone else the dinosaurs have attacked on their way out.' Zia made a good point, but Owen couldn't just leave her like this.

'We have to try, she's already passed out from blood loss!'

'I can do it.' Zia moved forward to examine Claire's injuries.

'You're sure?'

He was met with a glare. 'I'm a veterinarian, of course I'm sure! Lets just hope she stays out of it long enough for me to clean and stitch up her wounds. It's going to hurt otherwise.'

Deciding to trust her, he carefully picked Claire up off the floor.

'Ok, we'll move her onto a table.'

Together, they moved into the dining room, lead by Maisie as she knew her way around.

'Maisie, do you know where a first aid kit is, or did your grandfather keep any medical supplies in the house?' Zia asked.

'Yeah, i know where he keeps it! I'll go get it.'

'Go with her Franklin.' Owen ordered, gently placing Claire down on the table as they left.

Unfortunately, the movement must have caused Claire to regain consciousness, as she groaned in pain, her eye lids fluttering.

'Oh no, she's waking up.' Zia looked worried.

'Claire? Can you hear me?' Owen stroked her cheek gently.

Slowly Claire's eyes opened and she started to move, but grimaced in pain, quickly shutting her eyes again.

'Claire, you've got some injuries I'm going to have to stitch up on your leg. It's going to hurt, but I have to do it.'

Claire nodded, expecting this, and knowing she might very well pass out from the pain again.

'Just get it over with.' She said weakly, just as Maisie and Franklin came back with what Zia would need to help Claire.

'Franklin, take Maisie and get something to eat. She doesn't need to see this.'

'But I want to help!' Maisie stood her ground.

'You have and you will, but I don't want you to see this. Once we're done, we're going to need your help though, ok?'

Maisie nodded her head reluctantly, allowing Franklin to take her out of the room.

Owen took Claire's hand, trying to give her strength for what she was about to endure.

'I need you to keep your eyes on me, ok Claire? Just keep your eyes on me and we'll get through this together.' Owen said, giving her hand a squeeze.

He expected Claire to look scared, but her face hardened, almost like she was trying to prepare herself. She nodded, squeezing his hand right back.

'Ok,' Zia sighed. 'I'm ready, lets do this.'


	2. Chapter 2

Zia first started to wipe away all the blood and clean the wound, which stung quite a lot, but Claire knew that there was more pain to come, worse still. Both the wounds on her leg had stopped bleeding for now, for which Zia and Owen were grateful for.

'Sorry Claire, I need to clean it before the site becomes infected.' Zia said, as a way of an apology.

Unfortunately, Zia had very basic supplies to work with, nothing to numb the area and she had not found any painkillers either. Claire would certainly be needing something to fight infection and ease the pain, so she would have to go searching the house after she was done. She imagined Lockwood's nurse kept them locked up, away from anyone who might abuse them. If not, they'd have to go to the local drug store to find what they needed. It was not an ideal situation, but it was the best they could.

'Ok Claire, this bit is going to hurt. I need you to try and stay still. It'll go faster that way. Owen, you'll have to hold her down, especially her leg, just in case she moves.'

Owen did not want to be the one to restrain her, to keep her in place while Zia sewed her up, causing her pain. Owen also knew that if she involuntarily moved while Zia was sewing her up, that would be even worse.

Zia paused and exhaled, trying to mentally prepare herself, before bringing the needle to Claire's first wound on her thigh, and began to sew.

Claire's eyes widened and she let out a pain staking noise, crossed between a gasped and a sob. She squeezed Owen's hand so tight that he grimaced, though he did not complain. He would take a bullet for her if it meant she would not be in pain for a single second.

Owen was brushing hair out of her face in an effort to sooth her, and normally this would work, but all Claire could think about was the pain. He hated to see her like this. She was normally so put together, calm, focused and in charge, but now she just looked so vulnerable.

'You're doing good, Claire.' Owen soothed, when Claire screwed her eyes shut.

'If you feel the need to pass out, don't fight it, ok?' Zia advised. She was hoping that Claire would indeed do this. It would be a lot easier for them, and for Claire, not having to go through this while she was awake.

Zia continued to stitch up her wounds, and was now halfway through the second one. Claire's face was quite ashen by this point, she was sweating, her skin was burning up, and she was breathing quite heavily. Not once did Claire complain though. Owen thought she would be begging Zia to stop, screaming and crying that she just couldn't take it anymore. Most of the time though, she just held onto his hand, squeezed her eyes shut and occasionally let out a cry of pain.

Owen tried to keep Claire's mind off of the pain by reminiscing about old times, before and after the park tragedy.

'I remember after I left you,' Claire let out a shaky laugh at this, still not agreeing with who left who. 'I instantly regretted it, Claire. We were such a good fit. I mean, we shouldn't be, we're both equally as stubborn, we never agree on anything, you always have to be in control, and I've always been trained to lead. But we both share the same passion, the same drive, which is how we first met. From the first moment I met you, I was amazed by how successful you were. And even after we left the island, you didn't sit back and drown in guilt. You tried to fix your mistakes and you came out a better person.

I was watching T.V. one day, a few months after we broke up, and I saw your ad come on. Both you and Zia were trying to promote DPG, and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. It was the first time I'd seen you, heard your voice for months and I was just amazed by how beautiful you were. I was so proud of you that day. You used to be so detached from these animals, and now you're doing an amazing job at trying to protect them. I realised I missed you after that, but I was too proud to pick up the phone and admit that.'

Owen waited for her to digest all this. Since their kiss just after she got her injuries, they obviously had not talked about what this would mean for them. He knew it was not the time to discuss their future, but he wanted her to know he still cared for her more than she'd ever know. Maybe sometime soon, they'd be able to talk about what went wrong in their relationship, and move forward.

Zia was trying to concentrate on the task at hand, feeling like she was intruding on a private moment. She knew only what little Claire had shared, that her and Owen met on the island, had a date that didn't go well, survived the tragedy that was Jurassic World, stuck together, then split up.

'You're more stubborn than me.' Claire panted out, clenching her teeth together in pain.

Owen laughed, 'That's all you took away from that?'

'You're just trying to distract me.'

Owen was about to agree, and also point out that everything he said was true, when Claire suddenly loosened her grip on his hand and her eyes closed.

'Claire?'

'It's ok, her body has just given into the pain. It'll be easier to finish this way.'

Owen knew she was right, but it didn't make him feel any better.

Zia soon finished her work, and was now cleaning up.

'I'll go find some medication for when she wakes up.'

Owen gently picked Claire up, loving how well she fit in his arms, and laid her on the couch nearby.

Taking her hand and gently rubbing circles on it, Owen stared at her face.

'When you wake up and feel up to it, we're talking about us. And it won't be because I need to distract you.'

 **There you go! I decided not to leave you a cliffhanger this time! I'm the type of writer that doesn't plan out her stories, I just write what comes to me, so I have really no idea how long this story will be or where it will go. But thank you to everyone who has so far read, reviewed, favourited or followed my story!**

 **By the way, there is actually a video on youtube with Claire and Zia talking about DPG. That somewhat inspired Owen's talk, wondering what he would think if he'd seen that after they broke up.**


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Claire was aware of was how foggy her head felt, followed closely by the pain that seemed to shoot through her leg to the rest of her body. She groaned, trying to open her eyes, but they seemed glued shut. She thought back to what she could last remember. She knew she'd been injured, Maisie had run off with the dinosaur close on her heels, her pleading with Owen to go after them, their kiss, and then trying to follow them before she could move no more. After that it was a total blank.

Finally, her eyes opened and she turned her head slowly, wincing at the pounding headache she now had. Looking around the room, she realised she was laying on a couch, covered with a blanket, a cushion under her injured leg. She sat up slowly, feeling like she was being weighed down by some unknown force. That was when she laid eyes on someone sitting on a chair nearby, watching her.

Owen had not left Claire's side for the better part of the day, which is how long she'd been unconscious after Zia's in-house surgery on her leg. Zia, Franklin and Maisie were all asleep on the floor. Maisie had made temporary beds on the floor for them from the couch cushions. He was exhausted, but he would not be able to sleep anyway, too worried for Claire. He realised now the adrenaline had worn off that he could have lost her. He remembered back on the island, the very real possibility that she had almost drowned alongside Franklin in the gyrosphere. He shuddered to think what could've happened to her had he not decided to join them on their mission to save the dinosaurs. He knew Claire dealt him a cheap shot by bringing Blue up in a desperate attempt to get him to agree. Only he knew, however, that the real reason he ended up tagging along was because of the strong-willed, stubborn woman in front of him. He knew the dangers associated with going back to that island, at least he thought he did before they were betrayed. He knew it didn't matter what he said, she would willingly risk her life for the cause she had been passionate about since learning the volcano could wipe out the dinosaurs for good, again. He promised her they would talk about that, and they would be talking about other matters too.

Owen glanced up just in time to see Claire trying to sit up, much to his surprise. He must have been so deep in thought he had not realised she was awake.

They locked eyes, concerned met pained.

Getting up off the seat, Owen walked over to Claire, kneeling down beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder, preventing her from going anywhere.

'Hey,' he whispered, as to not wake the others. 'How are you feeling?'

She tried to speak, but her mouth felt so dry she could not form words.

Seeing this, Owen took the glass of water on the table beside the couch and handed it to her, along with some tablets.

'Zia found some painkillers and antibiotics. You're going to need them.'

Claire took them without any protest, hoping they'd kick in soon.

'What happened?' Claire's voice came out weaker than she'd like.

'After I left you, you must have tried to follow us and collapsed. We found you and Zia had to clean and stitch your wounds.'

Claire suddenly remembered the excruciating pain of having her wounds stitched up and of Owen trying to distract her.

Claire's eyes went wide and she gasped. 'Maisie, is she ok? What happened to the indoraptor?' Claire tried to get up but winced in pain, her leg buckled underneath her.

'Easy, Claire, easy.' Owen caught her and gently sat her back down on the couch.

'She's fine. Everyone's fine. Blue killed the Indoraptor, we're safe. But we've got bigger problems, Claire. All the other dinosaurs escaped and are now loose.'

Claire was speechless. This was not what she expected and she had no idea how she would be able to fix this.

'I know what you're thinking. This is not your fault, Claire.'

'But it is, Owen.' She whispered, repeating the words she had spoken to him in their cell.

'I got so caught up in my career on the island, that I lost sight of the fact that I was dealing with animals. Not just any animals, de-extinct creatures that science had brought back. We exploited them for greed and money, creating a lethal dinosaur to bring in more people. Who does that? What kind of people does that make us? What kind of person does that make me?' Claire hung her head in shame, letting tears slip down her cheeks. She angrily brushed them away.

'Claire, you listen to me,' Owen said in a calm, stern voice. 'You weren't the one to create that dinosaur, that blame lies with Dr Wu. You may have granted permission for the project, but you had no idea what Wu had put into that thing. You ended up saving us with the T-rex.'

'But If I hadn't stupidly gone on this rescue mission-'

'Claire, you did what you thought was right. You're trying to make up for past mistakes, that has to count for something. You can continue play the what if game and I'd have an answer for every single one of them. The fault does not lie with just one person, but everyone, me included. And if there's one thing I do not regret, it's meeting you and living a life with you off that island. I want that back, Claire, and I know you do too. We'll make it work this time, no more running from each other.' He brought his hand up to her face, softly stroking it before bringing her face closer and gently placing his lips on hers. Unlike the last kiss they shared, this kiss was slow and full of promises of forever.

'I love you.' Owen looked her straight in the eyes, trying to convey how much he meant those words.

'I love you too.' Claire replied with a watery smile.

'Get some more rest. We'll need to make a plan when the others wake up.'

She nodded, already feeling her eyes starting to droop. She laid back down on the couch, vaguely aware of Owen covering her back up with the blanket and kissing her on the forehead before her eyes closed.


	4. Chapter 4

When Claire next opened her eyes, the room was empty of both Owen, and her sleeping friends on the floor. Deciding she couldn't spend the rest of her day on the couch, Claire gingerly stood up, testing her leg to see how much pressure she could put on it. She knew she had quite a lot of work with the DPG now that the issue was literally on their doorstep, and she had no time to be set back by an injury. Claire gasped in pain when her foot hit the ground, tears filling her eyes. Frustrated with herself, she angrily blinked the tears away, gritted her teeth and started to limp out of the room in search of the kitchen. Once she dealt with her hunger pains, she would find a bathroom to freshen up. She needed to feel somewhat normal after everything they'd been through in the last few days.

She didn't have to go far to find the kitchen and started to make herself a sandwich.

This is how Owen found her, after going to check on her and not finding her on the couch where he'd left her. Owen rolled his eyes, feeling somewhat angered at Claire. He should have stayed with her, knowing she would try to walk on her injured leg instead of waiting for him to come back. When the others woke up, it was mid morning, so they left Claire to have breakfast and to get Maisie packed up with her essentials, knowing they couldn't stay at the manor much longer. They wanted to wait for Claire to wake up to discuss what was going to happen with Maisie and what on earth they were supposed to do with dinosaurs coexisting with humans.

Walking into the kitchen, Owen saw Claire had just finished making herself a sandwich and was heavily limping towards a chair.

Sighing, Owen sat down opposite Claire and prepared himself for the argument that was about happen.

'Claire, what do you think you're doing?'

'Making a sandwich,' Claire stated, sparing Owen a quick glance as she sat down.

'No, I mean what do you think you're doing walking around on that leg. You just had two giant holes stitched up. You need to keep the weight off for as long as possible.'

'I know my limits, Owen, and I'm perfectly capable of deciding if I can or can't walk on it.'

'And you called me stubborn,' Owen muttered angrily under his breath.

'No, Claire, that's where you're wrong. If we had gone to a hospital like I had wanted to in the first place, they would have made you stay there for at least a week or more, with complete bed rest.'

'In case you haven't noticed, we have bigger problems than my injured leg.'

'Yes, but if you don't look after it properly, it is going to become an even bigger problem for you!'

Claire glared at him when he raised his voice at her. There of course had been many arguments between them during their relationship which ended in both of them screaming at each other.

'Oh Owen, stop being dramatic! It's a leg injury, I'll survive!'

'That's the thing, Claire, you almost didn't! You have no idea how close you were to never waking up again.' Owen's voice had become softer at this point.

Claire stopped eating and her face softened, only just realising the impact this had on him.

'I'm sorry I worried you, Owen, but really, I'm ok now. But I don't have time to sit back for a week or two while there's dinosaurs out there to protect.'

'Claire, that can wait. You have to take care of yourself first.'

'You still don't get it! I owe it to those dinosaurs to make sure they are able to live out the rest of their lives in freedom, away from humans and not being exploited or used as weapons. They didn't ask to be brought back, we decided to play god and did that for them. My leg means nothing compared to what they are going through, what they will have to face in the future in a world they know nothing about.'

Owen reached across the table and took Claire's hand.

Zia, Franklin and Maisie took this time to walk in.

'Hey Claire, how's the leg?' Franklin asked.

'It's still there,' Claire joked with a smirk.

Owen didn't find this funny, but the others cracked a smile, glad to see that her sense of humour was still there.

'I'll have to take a look at your leg later, but right now we need to talk about what we're going to do.'

'I think we need get everyone from the DPG together and head back to the office. We're going to need to do a press conference and call our supporters, or what's left. We have some serious damage control to do and we don't have any more time to waste; they need us.'

'Wait, what's DPG?' Maisie asked, who had previously been happy to listen.

'Dinosaur Protection Group. I started it when the island's volcano became a threat to their lives and we were trying to get the governments support to save them. Now we need to find a way to get the dinosaurs back and find somewhere safe and isolated to put them.'

'We may have the answer to that; well, at least the isolated part. Mill's wasn't lying when he said Lockwood owned an island that was fully self sustain to relocate the dinosaurs. It actually exists! We just have to track the dinosaurs and find a way to take them there.'

'Oh, is that all,' Owen said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. 'And how are we supposed to do that?'

'I never said I had all the answers, raptor boy.'

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, letting it all sink it.

'What's going to happen to me?' Maisie asked in a small voice.

Owen and Claire locked eyes, silently communicating with the other and nodding in agreement.

'We'd like you to come with us, if that's what you want.' Claire assured her, taking her hand softly.

Claire didn't have time to react before Maisie launched herself at her in a hug, being mindful of her leg.

'Thanks Claire. I'm glad you're ok.'

Claire was shocked at first, but closed her eyes and returned the hug, softly stroking the girls hair. She had already grown to care for this girl so much in such a short time and couldn't imagine leaving her behind.

Opening her eyes, she saw Owen smirking over Maisie's shoulder.

Maisie let go and sat down next to Claire.

'Right, so lets freshen up, get some sleep and leave this afternoon. We'll head back into town and go from there.'

 **I hope people are still enjoying this story, and that it's not going too slow. I'm still trying to figure out where it's going, but I think the next chapter we'll start to see things move forward. Send through any comments, compliments, suggestions or criticism!**


	5. Chapter 5

They all set off that afternoon, taking one of the many spare cars locked up within the garage of the manor. The plan was to drop Zia and Franklin off at their respective houses, and Owen, Claire and Maisie would drive to Owen's place in the woods. There wasn't a lot of room for the three of them, but this way while Claire was doing her office work and public announcements for DPG, Owen and Maisie would stay back and work on the cabin. The sooner it was completed, the more comfortable they would all be.

Owen had tried to convince Claire to rest for at least a few days before going back to work, but she would have none of it.

'Fine Claire, but Zia works there too. If you don't let her check your injuries, or she tells me you're pushing yourself too hard, I'll be coming to collect you myself.'

At first Claire rolled her eyes at Owen's threat, but soon realised he was serious when he exchanged numbers with Zia and was told the exact same thing from the veterinarian.

'Guys, come on, I'm not a child! I run DPG, I can't just abandon it now!'

'And who's going to take over for you when you put yourself in the hospital?' Owen argued. 'You do no more than five hour days, three if you're in the field. Got it?'

Claire reluctantly agreed, only because she knew he would follow through with his threat.

When they reached Owen's caravan, they sent Maisie for a shower, while Owen and Claire sat down at the table.

'I think we should try to contact Iris. She must be worried sick about her.' Maisie had filled them in on her life in the Lockwood manor. She had been homeschooled and looked after primarily by Iris, once her grandfather had been too sick to do so himself. She'd never been to a school and had no friends her own age. Maisie said it did get lonely sometimes, but she never knew any different. She often got lost in her imagination, spending her time getting lost in the manor, pretending she was trekking through the Jurassic era.

'We'll see what we can do tomorrow. For tonight though, lets just rest.'

Claire checked her phone, surprised she had six missed calls, three from her sister, Karen, one from Zach and two from Gray.

'Shit! I need to call Karen and the boys. They've probably heard about the dinosaurs escaping by now.'

'What did Karen say when you told her you were returning the the island?'

There was a slight pause and Claire grimaced. 'I, ah, didn't tell them.'

Owen laughed, slightly amused. 'Have fun telling your sister that.' He kissed Claire on the forehead lovingly, before making his way to the kitchen (if you could call it that), and making them something for dinner.

Putting her phone up to her ear, Claire listened to the concern voicemails of her family. She'd become a lot closer to them since leaving the park three years ago. Always making time to visit them during holidays and family events. Karen and Scott had since divorced, holding off until the boys were coping better since the incident. Zach was now in college and Gray was in high school.

Taking a deep breath, Claire pressed her sisters number and waited for her to pick up. She didn't have to wait long before her sister was yelling down the phone at her.

'Claire! Are you ok? What's going on?' Karen was yelling so loud Claire had to pull the phone away from her ear. 'Why am I hearing reports of you and a team going to the island to save those dinosaurs, and why are they now saying dinosaurs have now escaped and are roaming free in America! You said you'd never go back, Claire! Do you have any idea how worried the boys and I were about you?'

'Uh, hey Karen! How's things?' Claire asked rather lamely, not knowing where to start with everything that had happened within the last few days.

'Claire, are you serious right now? What's going on? Hang on, I'm putting you on speaker with the boys.'

'Aunt Claire, are you ok?' Came the worried voices of her nephews Zach and Gray.

'Hey guys, look I'm fine, really. I did go back to the island to relocate the dinosaurs, but there were a few issues along the way.'

Claire went on to tell them mostly everything, leaving out her injury, almost dying multiple times, and Owen and Maisie. That conversation could wait for another time. No need to worry them even more or get yelled at again by her sister. She always felt like she was getting a lecture from her Mum.

Claire realised that at some point during her conversation that Karen was crying.

'Wait, are you crying again?'

'She hasn't stopped.'

'Zach!' Karen snapped, though it didn't sound as intimidating as it should have with her sniffling.

'Look, if I promise not to go back there, will you stop crying and worrying about me?'

'Claire, there is no island anymore! Don't think you've heard the end of this! And I'll always worry about you, you're my litter sister!'

'Yes Mum. Now if you don't mind, it's been a long day. I'll call you soon, ok?'

'Ok, we love you Claire.'

'Love you too guys.'

Claire hung up and sat there staring at her phone.

'That conversation could've gone better. I can't believe you didn't tell them.' Owen said, sitting back down next to Claire.

'You heard all that?'

'Yeah, way to play it cool.'

Claire chuckled before all went silent again.

'I almost didn't tell you.'

At Owen's questioning look, Claire went on, staring ahead as she spoke.

'After the way we left things last time, I didn't think I was ready to face you again. Mills wanted me to ask you if you'd help recapture Blue, and a part of me thought it was best not to involve you at all. You made it very clear that you wanted nothing to do with that island or the dinosaurs. But the other part of me knew we needed you. I needed you. I knew you wouldn't go back unless it was for Blue though.'

'You really don't know, do you?' Owen said, surprised.

'Know what?'

'I didn't go back for Blue. Sure, seeing her again was great and I wanted to help her. But I went for you, Claire. I knew that if you went, I would never forgive myself if I wasn't there to protect you. And I knew you'd get yourself into trouble.'

'Hey, I do not-' Claire's protest was cut off by Owen's lips claiming hers.

Breaking the kiss, she rested her forehead against his, trying to catch her breath.

'You can't just shut me up like that every time.'

'Why not? It works.' Owen had a cocky grin on his face.

The bathroom door opened, and Maisie wandered out, looking refreshed but exhausted.

'Ok, lets have something to eat, then we'll go to bed.' Owen said, getting up and clapping his hands together.

While they were eating, Claire decided to bring up the subject with Maisie.

'Maisie, we thought it'd be a good idea to call Iris and let her know you're ok. Do you know how to contact her?'

'I have her number in my bag. You want me to go live with her now, don't you?' Maisie said softly, eyes downcast.

'No sweetie, of course not!' Claire assured the girl, placing her hand softly over Maisie's. 'But legally, you don't belong to us. We'd get into a lot of trouble if we just took you without discussing your future with Iris first. She'd be your legal guardian now. But Owen and I will talk to her tomorrow to discuss what we're going to do.'

'Besides, I promised I'd tell you all about Blue, didn't I?'

This seemed to cheer Maisie up, and once they all finished eating, Owen and Claire each took a shower (though Claire found this quite difficult as she couldn't get her leg wet).

As there was only one bed, all three were sleeping wrapped in each others arms. Tomorrow, everything was going to be uncertain and chaotic, but for tonight, everything seemed almost perfect.


End file.
